An overwhelming majority of Seattle police officers say they lack confidence in the leadership of Chief Gil Kerlikowske, officials of the department's union said last night.

Of the 1,014 rank-and-file officers who cast ballots in the first-ever referendum on a Seattle chief, 893 -- 88 percent -- voted against Kerlikowske, said officials of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. In all, 1,209 ballots were distributed.

"This isn't just a few people, this isn't just the guild leadership, this is the rank and file speaking -- men and women, cutting across all racial lines," guild President Ken Saucier said.

Saucier said the vote only underscores frustrations among officers who view Kerlikowske as a weak leader who bows to outside political pressures. Guild members point to what they consider a "double standard" in a department accountability system under Kerlikowske that is quick to discipline low-ranking officers, but is non-existent for department brass.

That perception sparked the no-confidence vote in January, when Kerlikowske reprimanded a patrolman who was otherwise cleared of an accusation that he had racially profiled a group of Asian American teens. "There's a problem with discipline, or with a two-tiered accountability system," Saucier said. "This (vote) is about fundamental fairness."

Following a guild meeting last night in Tukwila, 10-year patrol veteran Brian Guenther said members were simply fed up.

"Things have got to change. It's not a matter of getting rid of the chief," he said, adding that members hope Mayor Greg Nickels and Kerlikowske will discuss the union's concerns and how to fix them.

The practical effect of the guild vote appears only to be symbolic.

Nickels, who has sole power to hire and fire a police chief, said he supports Kerlikowske.

In his mayoral campaign last year, Nickels had criticized Kerlikowske for the way the department failed to handle a violent Fat Tuesday crowd in Pioneer Square. His tone softened after he took office.

"I continue to support and have confidence in Chief Kerlikowske," Nickels said yesterday. "This vote reflects some of the frustrations and is an expression of labor-management issues that the city needs to work on, and I'm committed to working with the guild to address them."

Kerlikowske declined interviews yesterday but issued a short statement.

"I am extremely gratified of Mayor Greg Nickels' support," Kerlikowske wrote. "The Seattle Police Officers Guild's action can open a dialogue on the important issues affecting the department. I recognize that many of these issues have been ongoing for several years. I am committed to improving communications with the guild."

The words of the mayor and other city leaders rang hollow to Saucier, who said he was "hopping mad" about Nickels' comments. He said city leaders miss the point.

"If they were going to come out and say something, maybe they should've said, 'Yeah, look at the numbers, there's a big problem here we need to take care of,'" Saucier said. "Instead, they spit in the face of the rank and file."

While saying the city should both support its officers while also holding them accountable for their actions, Nickels said he does take the guild vote seriously.

"Clearly, there have been problems. There have been problems for the last couple years," the mayor said. "We have a job ahead of us to rebuild trust and confidence."

The vote is the first of its kind in the 50-year history of the police officers union, though the department has long suffered internal strife.

Frustrated officers have complained of plummeting morale since the disastrous World Trade Organization Conference in 1999, when downtown protests disintegrated into tear gas-tinged martial law. Rank-and-file officers bitterly complained that they were unable to do their jobs because of political constraints, left without proper support during the riots and later condemned unfairly.

The guild then came close to taking a no-confidence vote against then-Chief Norm Stamper, who abruptly retired. In August 2000, former Mayor Paul Schell replaced him with Kerlikowske, a U.S. Justice Department official and former police commissioner in Buffalo, N.Y.

While widely praised for his handling of the N30 demonstrations that marked the one-year anniversary of WTO, Kerlikowske was widely criticized a few weeks later when police commanders allowed violence during the Mardi Gras celebration to go largely unchecked. The mayhem left one man dead and more than 70 people injured.

Though the guild considered taking a vote on the new chief's performance after Mardi Gras, its leaders instead backed an outside investigation of the way the riot was handled. Despite two scathing reports and a public apology from Kerlikowske, however, no top commanders were disciplined for holding officers back.

The guild's simmering anger boiled over in January, when Kerlikowske disciplined Officer Jess Pitts, who was accused of racial profiling Asian American youths who were jaywalking. Though department investigators said Pitts acted properly in stopping the youths, Sam Pailca, the civilian director of the department's Office of Professional Accountability, recommended discipline for rude behavior.

Kerlikowske slapped Pitts with an oral reprimand for conduct unbecoming an officer -- the lightest possible action, but a permanent mark on his personnel record.

The disciplinary action, as well as the chief's decision to post it on the department's Web site, prompted the Seattle Police Management Association -- the union representing about 56 captains and lieutenants -- to fire off an angry letter to Kerlikowske. The group said his handling of the Pitts case 'undermines the discipline process" and "jeopardizes the ability of rank-and-file employees to execute their duties." The guild then called for a vote, and included the letter as well as its own nine-point summary of the department's "double standard of accountability" with its ballots.

Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, D.C., yesterday said no-confidence votes aren't unusual "for police chiefs in this country who are trying to hold officers accountable and trying to make changes.

"Today, being a police chief means taking unpopular stands," said Wexler, who has worked closely with Kerlikowske through the forum. "What the citizens of Seattle need to ask themselves is: 'Do we want a police chief who's concerned about being popular, or one who holds his officers accountable and makes tough decisions?'"

City Councilman Jim Compton, chairman of the council's public safety committee, said yesterday he continues to support Kerlikowske but called the guild vote "an important signal about the level of frustration."

"But what I am asking the guild now is, where do we go from here?" Compton said.

After the guild meeting last night, Saucier said he wanted an "honest effort, not flowery statements" and was concerned there was a lack of urgency from city leaders.

"We'll keep working, we'll keep providing the level of service that the citizens of Seattle enjoy," Saucier said. "We're not going to back off on that. ... Our door is open. We want action."